Gardeners can find plenty of leaves for free in bags during the fall

Brown's edition and the South Hill are good places to get your free mulch for your organic garden. I like to mow them up some more, then spread them on my vegetable beds, they also discourage weeds that way. Folks have already put the leaves in bags for you and they are on the curb. Why not grab some...

Shift Happens - All Things Change - Ceaseless Transformation is the sign of the times

The "Shift Happens" video creates a space for reflection on the exponential fast paced times we live in where adapting to change will be highly valued. But sometimes "no change" or keeping the status quo is subsidized as in for example the meat and ethanol industry, creating an artificial market place. Will these subsidies, obstructions, or lack thereof improve the welfare in the world or not, it is not black and white. As H.L. Mencken once pointed out, it is difficult to get a man (or congressman in this case) to understand something when his income (big campaign contributions) depends on his not understanding it.



Another quote relating to environmental changes that business will have to go through, "The winners will be the folks that don't resist change, but look at ways to apply innovation and ingenuity to capitalize on the migration toward a lower carbon economy." Ken Ostrowski.

Growing bio-fuel from algea on a vertical closed loop set-up

View a video here
http://www.globalgreensolutionsinc.com/i/misc/Vertigro/

Sequesters carbon dioxide while producing useful liquids.

You can grow per Acre:
18 gallons of oil per year from corn
700-800 gallons of oil per year from palm
20.000 gallons of oil per year with open algea system

1/10 of the state of New Mexico could produce enough energy for the US when growing algea.

Bioneers Satellite Conference first time in Spokane

Would have loved to attend most of it, but could only attend a few sessions by local folks. It is great to have this event in Spokane. Here is their site http://www.sustainspokane.org/ and the main Bioneers web site

Saranac First Platinum Certified Green Building in Spokane



Some of the Saranac's features,

- Rooftop garden (reduces urban heat island effect, plants convert CO2 back into oxygen, and natural cooling for the summer, insolation for the winter)

- Reused insolation (denim)

- Ground source heat pump (50 degree ground temperature gets pumped up in the summer for cooling and heating in winter) They also reuse waste heat generated in the restaurant.

- 230K solar PV array (will pay for itself in 12 years) installed by Eco Depot

- Daylighting (sensors adjust the indoor lighting depending on ambient day light coming in)

- Roof rainwater collection (used as gray water for toilets and irrigation)

- Dual flush toilets and no-flush urinals

This deserves extra attention (it has already been featured in the local media), as it is indicative of a trend with consumers becoming more and more conscious of their harm and resource footprint which hopefully, is an infectious and unstoppable trend, regardless of whether the gas prises fall again to comfortable lows. It is easy for folks to think only the rich and powerful, or "leaders" can do things like this, but each one of us has a specialty, a unique contribution to make, maybe it is not related to spending money to make green buildings, perhaps it is to make a difference towards beauty in other ways. It does not matter what occupation or environment one works and lives in, you can directly affect those around you. Just by becoming a more conscious human being, one starts changing the world around oneself, automatically. To say one can't make a difference is deep down a way to avoid taking responsibility. As the african proverb says, "One small mosquito can make a difference in your night's sleep." So it is with each one of us, by doing what we know best, we can make a big difference in the world. So who are you?


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